France Soccer, working alongside UEFA, unveiled the official candidates for the 2026 Ballon d’Or on Tuesday. The award ranks as probably the most prestigious particular person prize in soccer, and it follows an distinctive season of fierce competitors between the sport’s greatest stars at each collective and particular person stage.
The announcement additionally served up a string of eye-catching surprises. Chief amongst them was the absence of Brazilian Raphinha from the perfect participant shortlist regardless of his standout marketing campaign with Barcelona, alongside along with his Spanish team-mates Pedri and Dani Olmo. Larger nonetheless within the girls’s class was the exclusion of Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí, winner of the Ballon d’Or in every of the final three editions.
One other shock got here in the perfect coach class, the place Barcelona boss Hansi Flick did not make the minimize. The lists pointed to a fierce battle throughout each class forward of the ceremony in London on 26 October.
The awards within the order of announcement
Proceedings started with the award for the perfect membership within the girls’s class, revealing the primary candidate: Barcelona, champions of La Liga and the Champions League. They face Champions League runners-up Bayern Munich, England’s Manchester Metropolis and France’s Lyon.
Subsequent got here the award for the perfect males’s group, beginning with Arsenal, Premier League champions and Champions League runners-up. Their rivals are Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Norway’s Bodø/Glimt, Brazil’s Flamengo and France’s Paris Saint-Germain.
5 names are in competition for the world’s greatest coach for ladies’s groups: Jonatan Giráldez “Lyon”, Andrée Jeglertz “Manchester Metropolis”, Nils Nielsen “Japan nationwide group”, Pere Romeu “Barcelona”, Elena Sadiku “Celtic/BK Häcken”.
Spanish coaches dominated the nominations for the world’s greatest coach for males’s groups, with a quintet made up of Mikel Arteta “Arsenal”, Luis de la Fuente “Spain nationwide group”, Unai Emery “Aston Villa”, Luis Enrique “Paris Saint-Germain”, plus Belgian Vincent Kompany “Bayern Munich”.
Lacking out had been huge names akin to Germany’s Hansi Flick, Spain’s Pep Guardiola and Argentines Diego Simeone and Lionel Scaloni.
Contenders for the world’s greatest goalkeeper for 2026 included Germany’s Ann-Katrin Berger, Spain’s Cata Coll, England’s Hannah Hampton, Brazil’s Lorena and Japan’s Ayaka Yamashita.
The checklist for the world’s greatest goalkeeper award (the Lev Yashin Trophy) included Spain’s Juan García, Morocco’s Yassine Bounou, Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, Argentina’s Emiliano Martínez, Switzerland’s Gregor Kobel, Senegal’s Édouard Mendy, Spain’s David Raya and his compatriot Unai Simón, Cape Verde’s goalkeeper Vozinha, and Russia’s Safonov.
Two Arab stars, Morocco’s Ayoub Bouaddi and Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza, be a part of eight outstanding names within the race for the Kopa Trophy for the world’s greatest younger participant.
Alongside Bouaddi and Maza, the checklist options Bosnia’s Kerim Alajbegović, Spain’s Pau Cubarsí, Ivory Coast’s Yan Diomande, Germany’s Lennart Karl, France’s Elie Junior Kroupi, Spain’s Lamine Yamal, Switzerland’s Johan Manzambi and France’s Warren Zaïre-Emery.
Then got here the shock. Organisers revealed the 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or for the world’s greatest participant, and the identify of Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí, winner in every of the final three years, was nowhere to be discovered.
The 30 gamers had been: Selma Bacha, Barbra Banda, Klara Bühl, Esmee Brugts, Mariona Caldentey, Scarlett Camberos, Kerstin Casparij, Temwa Chawinga, Cata Coll, Melchie Dumornay, Caroline Graham Hansen, Alex Greenwood, Patri Guijarro, Pernille More durable, Yui Hasegawa, Rose Lavelle, Mapi León, Lorena, Melvine Malard, Manaka Matsukubo, Vivianne Miedema, Ewa Pajor, Claudia Pina, Alexia Putellas, Wendie Renard, Alessia Russo, Khadija Shaw, Momoko Tanikawa, Caroline Weir, and Tessa Wullaert.
That left the most important checklist of all, the contenders for the Ballon d’Or for the world’s greatest participant.
The award’s account introduced the names individually, and we carry them to you in flip:
The checklist of candidates:
Jude Bellingham, Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsí, title-holder Ousmane Dembélé, Bruno Fernandes, Luis Díaz, Erling Haaland, Gabriel Magalhães, Achraf Hakimi, Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lamine Yamal, Sadio Mané, Marquinhos, Kylian Mbappé, Lautaro Martínez, Michael Olise, Willian Pacho, João Neves, Julián Quiñones, Rodri, Nuno Mendes, Vinícius Júnior, Declan Rice, Lionel Messi, Fabián Ruiz, Ferran Torres, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Vitinha.
Heavyweight names dropped out, chief amongst them Brazil’s Raphinha and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, plus Spaniards Pedri and Dani Olmo.
A committee of sports activities journalists from throughout the globe votes for the Ballon d’Or, handed out every year to the world’s greatest participant. The winner is chosen on a number of standards, most notably particular person and collective efficiency, sportsmanship and consistency throughout the season.
London will stage the ceremony on 26 October 2026 for the primary time within the award’s historical past. The evening will crown the Ballon d’Or winner and reveal the remainder of the person honours, together with the “Yashin” award for the perfect goalkeeper, the “Kopa” award for the perfect younger participant, the perfect coach, the perfect membership and numerous different prizes.
World consideration descends on the Ballon d’Or yearly because the definitive measure of the world’s greatest participant. Public and media curiosity runs excessive, sharpened by the intensifying scrap between soccer’s greatest stars for probably the most valuable particular person prize of all.
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